WILMINGTON — Lake Placid is facing what consultants have described as a “workforce housing crisis.” In that crisis, the leader of another community sees an opportunity.

Wilmington town Supervisor Roy Holzer has been watching closely as Lake Placid contends with the effects of its affordable housing crunch. He has attended public hearings on proposed short-term vacation rental regulations. He has listened as some long-term residents shared their concerns about the rise of the vacation rental industry and what they see as its impact on residential neighborhoods.

“I think a lot of people who have grown up in Lake Placid, generational, are feeling like parts of their hometown community are being absorbed by vacation rentals — and the fact that they’re so busy now, all the time,” Holzer said, while sitting in his office at the Wilmington Community Center Tuesday. “While down here, 10 miles away, you can come down here and have a quality of life that maybe you can’t have up in Lake Placid.”

As many other North Country towns experience a population loss over time, Wilmington’s population has been slowly growing in the last 20 years.

In the 2000 census, the town had 1,131 residents. That number had grown by 122, to 1,253 residents, in the 2010 census. A population estimate in 2017 shows an expectation that the population will continue to grow.

Though the town of North Elba has also seen its population slowly increase since the 1990s, the population is expected to show some decline in the 2020 census — and the village of Lake Placid has lost residents in every census since 1970, with the exception of 2000, when it saw a 6.2% increase in residents. The village’s population had subsequently declined by 4.4% by the next census in 2010.

Local officials in the village of Lake Placid and the town of North Elba continue to explore ways to regulate the short-term rental industry while mitigating health, safety and quality of life impacts of vacation rentals on long-term residents. And as the community ramps up revitalization efforts in the leadup to the 2023 World University Games, in the form of state-funded sports venue upgrades and a proposed state grant-aided Main Street overhaul, a few possible housing developments have surfaced.

But a recent housing needs assessment by Camoin310 shows a significant affordable housing need that’s currently unmet. The study says that with a target of 50% of the local workforce living within the community, North Elba and Lake Placid have a need for roughly 1,534 “workforce and affordable level” housing units — the majority, 1,013 units, for those who make less than $35,150 per year. In the study, affordable for that income range is defined as less than $879 per month for apartments, and under $123,000 for a home.

With vacant lots to spare and lower home prices, Holzer sees Wilmington as a place that has the potential to help meet the needs of that income range. He pointed to people working in the hospitality and service industry in Lake Placid as possible future residents.

“Those people that provide all these services and give our visitors these positive experiences … they deserve some kind of quality of life for themselves,” he said.

The town of Wilmington has created a volunteer committee dedicated to exploring opportunities to develop affordable housing, and finding grant opportunities that could aid development efforts. It’s called the Wilmington Homestead Housing Commission, and according to Holzer, the group’s first meeting is slated for March 17.

Moving forward, Holzer is looking to partner with the town of North Elba and surrounding communities to put together a regional approach to solving the affordable housing crunch.

“(The state) is looking to get the biggest bang for their buck,” he said. “I think we have a lot of mutual interest — even though their Whiteface-Lake Placid advertising drives me insane, I could see us doing a very strong application with them and taking a regional approach.”